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About MDI Client

The Mobile Device Inventory (MDI) client is installed on mobile devices. Users can download the application from Google Play for Android devices, or from the Apple Apps store for iOS devices. The application allows a user to enroll the mobile device with the MDI application and allows for inventory and management of the mobile device. After the application is installed, the mobile device can respond to commands sent from the MDI server to carry out an audit or to update information.

The MDI service is a Windows service that is installed on the MDI server and is responsible for handling all inbound data requests made by the MDI client and APNS or GCM.

The MDI service initiates all outbound messages and commands that are sent to the managed devices. Devices are audited according to the schedules configured in the Inventory Settings workspace.

MDI gathers information from mobile devices such as iPhones, iPads, and Android devices.

You must enroll all mobile devices so that Discovery can audit them. After you enroll a mobile device, Discovery creates a mobile device configuration item record and inventories the software and hardware. Go to the CI workspace to view the information. Enrolling your mobile device also allows the administrator to send certain commands to it, for example, to start an audit or to update the wifi configuration.

The application consists of the MDI service (a server component), and the MDI client application that is installed on the mobile devices.

The MDI service uses Apple Push Notification Service (APNS) and Google Cloud Messaging (GCM) to communicate with the MDI client and send it commands or data. All data and commands are sent to the mobile devices using these services as mandated and in conformance with the requirements of Apple, Inc., and Google, Inc.

However, any communication from the mobile device (client) to the server is sent directly without the need for APNS or GCM. Therefore, the server that hosts the MDI service must:

Be able to send and receive data over the Internet.

Communicate using only SSL which requires the use of SSL certificates.

Prerequisites for Using MDI

Before you begin installation, ensure that you have the following to manage iOS devices:

An SSL certificate issued for a registered domain by a trusted certificate authority such as Verisign or Comodo.

A root certificate from the same trusted certificate authority.

A valid Apple ID.


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